Palermo's palo verde trees

On April 10, 2010, Positively Palermo discussed the palo verde tree, known as the Desert Museum variety, that we have here at Palermo Palm Springs. The above picture is from the Palermo landscaping plan. See the April 10 posting for more information. Now, the LA Times has an article on the tree. It states in part: "A tree whose name translates from Spanish to 'green stick' has performed a remarkable feat. Native to ranges in Southwestern deserts and once thought here as appropriate only for Phoenix or perhaps Palm Springs, the palo verde tree has become a favorite choice of Los Angeles landscape architects. After considering the most commonly available palo verde species, Cal Poly Pomona professor emeritus and author Robert Perry selected four as suitable for the Southland: Mexican, blue, foothill and Sonoran. All offer drought tolerance, stunning spring blooms, sex appeal for bees, leaves like filigree, branches in a luminous green and dimensions suitable for patios. Yet it was a palo verde hybrid called Desert Museum that Perry singled out as special. It is named for Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, where three decades ago the director of natural history, Mark Dimmitt, identified a thornless seedling that would not just flower in the spring, but would keep blooming throughout the summer. As cuttings were propagated, Dimmitt and museum staff began seeing the new hybrid around Tucson, then Phoenix, then Las Vegas. By 2005, Southern California’s leading horticulturist, Bart O’Brien of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, was describing it as a plant that combined the best features of its parents. By 2011 it was the key courtyard tree at the new Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge. Faintly taken aback that his discovery is now making it big in Los Angeles, Dimmitt kindly talked about palo verdes in general and Desert Museum in particular. Question: Where do you find palo verde trees most commonly in the desert? Answer: The first-generation natural hybrid, between Mexican and foothill palo verdes, is found mostly in disturbed areas around Tucson and other desert cities. This is because Mexican palo verde is introduced to Arizona and is rarely found in natural desert.
 When you started working with crosses of palo verdes in the 1970s, what did you see in terms of height, thorns, flowers? How many crosses did you go through to arrive at Desert Museum? Desert Museum was a discovery, not the result of a breeding program. In 1979, I collected a few dozen seeds from a first-generation hybrid and grew them. All except one seedling were uninteresting. The one seedling grew into a superior tree. Genetic and phenotypic analysis revealed that the hybrid had been pollinated by a blue palo verde. I named it Desert Museum with the expectation that Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum would patent the tree and make some money from it. Oh, how they wish they had now!

" The rest of the article is at this Web link. Miss Penny Lane says: These trees when flowering make her smile.